Garrett’s been down in Tucson doing something baseball-ish. Josie told me what it is, multiple times, so I don’t want to ask again. I had no idea it took so many hours of practice to play a game. I give her a smile. “It’s nice to have a little time to hang out, just us. Like the old days.”
She kicks off her sandals. “That’s how I thought it would be this week, but you’ve been mysteriously busy.” She eyes me suspiciously. “I’m wondering if it has anything to do with that lipstick you’re wearing.”
“Am I wearing lipstick? I forgot.”
“Liar.”
I’m spared from replying when there’s a sudden shift around us. People are moving toward the pool, while Tucker is gathering up the noodles and the floating basketballs and tossing them aside. “What’s going on?” I ask.
Then Tucker cups his hands over his mouth and yells, “Pool chicken! Who’s in?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mai
Something is stuck in my throat. I think it’s my stomach. Please not pool chicken.
“Come on, guys. If you’re in, you’re in.” Tucker splashes the water to make his point. “Find yourself a partner.”
The level of noise ratchets up as people call to each other and guys move toward the pool.
Josie is watching me, studying me like a bug under glass. Pool chicken is how this whole ridiculousness with Anthony began. I fold my arms over my chest, projecting a more mature version of myself. “They should outlaw pool chicken,” I say. “It’s like wrestling in water. Without clothes. People with raging hormones and under-developed brains should not be playing it.”
She nods slowly, still studying me.
“Plus, the whole thing is very awkward.” My voice rises as I warm to the topic. “You have to balance on a guy’s shoulders. Where do you hold on? And just try wiggling around on a pair of shoulders without your suit shifting. If it goes up your butt, you can’t pull it out. Plus, it takes more inner thigh strength than you’d expect.”
Josie gives me a pointed look. “I’m surprised anyone would ever say yes.”
“Sometimes people make mistakes.”
Already, the group of new girls is giggling as if they know bad behavior is coming.
My gaze searches out Anthony, finding him on the grassy area beyond the pool. His eyes meet mine for one heated second. Oh Lord. My pulse skyrockets. He pulls off his shirt.
S-l-o-w-l-y.
It’s still plenty light out, so I don’t miss a single line of muscle rippling up his abs, his pecs, along his arms as he lifts them to tug the shirt over his head. He turns to drop it on the grass, and more muscles flex and shift like they’re calling, Look at me!
“Show off.”
“What?” Josie squints at me. I know because she pulls down her sunglasses to be sure I see. “You’re acting weird, Mai. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Two can play at that game. I sit up and pull my shirt off.
S-l-o-w-l-y.
I sneak a look to be sure he’s watching—yes, he is!—fold it carefully, set it on the chair, and then slide off my shorts with a few wiggles of my hips. Take that, Mr. Chill. There’s a sudden loud splash. Anthony launching himself in the pool. My smile is smug. Not so unaffected, after all.
Josie sits up. “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. You said pool chicken was a mistake, remember?”
I set my folded clothes under the chair. “I just don’t want my things to get splashed.”
“Team up, everyone!” Tucker yells.
Anthony pushes his wet hair back, slicking the waves off his forehead with both arms. Water streams down his pecs. I can see other girls watching. Staring. I want to yell at them to unglue their eyes. Those are my pecs.
Except they aren’t anymore.
There are already six guys in the pool. The two I don’t know have girls already attached to their necks. They’re bikini-clad lightweights. I could knock them off with two fingers. Cooper talks Andrea into joining him. I’m surprised but happy to see Tucker pair off with Jasmine—she crushed on him all spring. Jason calls over a dark-haired girl who’s as tall as he is and looks like she could have serious game. If she doesn’t sink him. Anthony is fielding all kinds of offers. He laughs them off and works his way across the pool. Toward us.
Toward me.
I force myself to stay calm. I’ll play it cool. I won’t say yes.
At first.
My heart is reaching speed-of-light territory as he pops up at the edge of the cool deck, not more than a foot away. He looks at me and then away—to my left.
“What do you say, Delia?”
Delia? My head spins with dizziness. I force myself to take a breath.
He’s smiling at the girl with the auburn hair. She’s smiling back.
“I’m in,” she says.
Stunned, I watch her strip down to a green one-piece with the midriff missing. I want to pick her apart because apparently I am that shallow, but the girl is pretty, and really, the only thing that matters is how Anthony is looking at her.
The way I want him to be looking at me.
I clutch at the sides of the chair to keep myself from doing anything stupid. Like dragging her off him. Which I really, really want to do.
“You okay?” Josie asks again.
The game has already started with shrieks and shoves and churning pool water. “She’s not nearly as good a player as I am.”
“That’s not really the point of the game, is it, Mai?” She swings her legs toward me and leans close. “What is going on? You broke it off with Anthony a month ago. I thought you were over that.”
Tears well up in my eyes. I have no idea where they’ve come from. “I can’t tell you. I swore secrecy.”
Her eyes flash with surprise and maybe a little anger. Then she squeezes my arm. “Secrecy pacts do not include best friends.”
“They don’t?” I ask hopefully. I am such a mess right now, and I need my best friend. Even if it does mean breaking a promise.
“Never.”
More water splashes from the pool, and the shrieks are gaining in volume. Two couples are already out, but not Anthony. Delia is still on his shoulders, his hands holding on to her knees. Her hands in his thick hair. I grab my shorts. “Let’s go inside.”
Chapter Thirty
Mai
The first empty room we come to is the laundry room. I pull Josie inside and shut the door. It’s the size of a small bedroom, and along with a washer and dryer, there’s a long worktable covered in scrapbooking things. A big window looks out on the side of the house—not the backyard, thankfully. I can’t watch Anthony and Delia for even a minute.